The first two years Kaylie Pyles was head coach at Mansfield, the Lady Tigers could not win an opening round match in the state tournament.
Mansfield (21-0) turned things around this year, defeating Lavaca in three sets to cap an undefeated season as the Class 2A state champion at Bank OZK Arena Saturday.
"(This is) definitely a dream come true," Pyles said. "The girls, especially my lone senior, Brooke Wright -- since I've had her as a sophomore, she's worked for this for three years. The girls told me at the beginning of the year, 'We want to be at the state championship game,' and I told them that with COVID, if we're able to do it, then we're going to be there."
Lavaca head coach Shannon Todaro said that her team did not play "our best."
"We didn't pass the ball well, which we knew going into this game that we were going to have to because they're a very solid team, and we knew that," she said. "We played them twice (earlier this season), and not being able to pass the ball didn't allow us to run our offense on the front row. ... So that hurt us. They have a very strong front line. They're just solid all the way around."
Neither team gained a significant lead at the start of the first set, until Mansfield sophomore Natalie Allison stepped to the line and served up nine straight points, including an ace and kills from classmate Skylynn Harris and tournament MVP Wright, for a 15-6 advantage. Allison's reign ended when sophomore Anna Davis set up junior Anna Todaro for the kill.
Lavaca picked up a point behind senior Ireland Green, a blocking error setting them back, and neither team could keep service for more than one point until sophomore Brooklyn Adams broadened the spread with an ace and a block from Wright for a 22-11 edge. The Lady Tigers claimed the set on a kill from Harris, 25-12.
The Lady Golden Arrows continued to struggle in the second set, falling behind 11-4. Mansfield slowly extended its lead to a 10-point difference before Lavaca managed to cut it down behind Todaro, 19-12. Back-and-forth play hit the court with Lavaca unable to find a tempo as a defensive error gave Mansfield the win, 25-15.
"They came out strong," Pyles said of her team. "They weren't nervous. They were energized, and they were focused. They were ready to play. They played to my expectations. I told the girls that we've already beaten (Lavaca) twice, but things can change. You're going to have to come out focused, and they won."
Two kills from Davis helped Lavaca secure a 3-2 lead in the final set before an Allison kill and ace from Adams knotted the score, 4-4. The Lady Golden Arrows trailed close to their opponent before Harris hit a 4-serve stretch to take a 12-7 lead. Mansfield kept Lavaca at bay, not allowing them any closer than 5 points, and a Lavaca attacking error led to the final point for Mansfield, 25-17.
Pyles mentioned that serving was an aspect of the game the Lady Tigers focused on.
"From yesterday's game until today, I told them that you cannot miss serves or have an unforced errors, and we eliminated those today," she said.
Sophomore Madelen Jones led Mansfield with 11 assists, a kill, a block and an ace. Harris controlled the net with nine kills, a dig and an ace, Allison finished with 10 assists, six kills, three digs, two aces and a block, Wright had seven kills, three digs and two blocks, and Adams had five digs, three aces and two kills.
For Lavaca, Todaro led with seven digs, six assists, two kills and an ace. Davis finished with five digs, three assists, three kills and two blocks, and senior Kinzee Jo Brown had four kills and two blocks.